We take a closer look at the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM and see if it can compete with its f/2.8 sibling

6 June 2009

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM is clearly one of the best EF mount telephoto zoom lenses available on the market. The lens shows outstanding image quality with particular strength in the 70-135mm range.

13 December 2008

Gary Wolstenholme takes a look at how this compact telephoto zoom lens performs. Canon's EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM costs around £800 and has an Image Stabiliser, silent Ultrasonic focusing with full time manual override and is sealed against dust and moisture.

Take one of Canon's most popular lenses, the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L , add an up-to-4-stop Image Stabilizer and you get the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Lens. If you don't need the subject-action-stopping and background-blurring capabilities of the faster Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS Lens , this lens...

23 July 2008

The EF50/1.2L is a totally new optical design (there was an old FD 50/1.2L) and uses a molded aspheric rear element (the 50/1.0L used two very expensive ground and polished aspherics). It has a true ring type USM motor and a high speed CPU for fast focus.

16 December 2008

Hands on

28 February 2015

With built-in image stabilisation and strong image quality, but the widest aperture of f/4 isn’t the best on the market.

20 December 2014

10/10

The Canon telephoto delivers fabulous image quality through its zoom range, along with the some of the best lab scores for sharpness for a lens of this type.

28 November 2010

9.3/10

The Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L IS is an amazing lens. It is truly outstanding when used on APS-C DSLRs and it suffers only from a minor quality deteriorations on full format DSLRs. The resolution figures are easily on prime levels throughout the whole range and even at max. aperture.

User Reviews

19 January 2017

10/10

I have only had this for only two weeks, but it has exceeded my expectations after doing a lot of research. It serves dual purpose on both my Canon 7D (original) crop sensor and the 5D Mark IV full frame sensor. Sharpness is unbelievable, as well as fast, quiet, and repeatable right-on auto focus.

9 March 2017

10/10

We use our copy of "Little White" to augment a 135L when a bit more reach is needed. It never disappoints, and with the AF on the 5D4 you can use it indoors after the sun goes down. The images are lovely, the AF snappy, and the IS effective. Probably the best performance vs.

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Wonderful lightweight and versatile professional image tool. Shoot it wide open all day. Sharp images full of life on both full frame and APS-C.

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No tripod ring included.

2 August 2017

10/10

The canon L series lens are some of the most sought after lens in the world of photography. This lens is super sharp from corner to corner. Once you have a lens of this quality you will see the difference when you compare your photo shots with other lens that you may own.

4 weeks ago

10/10

Using this lens for the last 4 years. Very happy with every aspect. My alternative would have been f2.8. As I use it more during travel than in the studio, "Less weight" won. I don't regret my decision. Of all my lenses, this is the most amount of Lens for the least amount of money.

30 December 2015

10/10

I have been the 70-200/4 L IS since it was introduced in 2007 and this is my second one after the previous one was given to a relative as a Christmas gift. The pictures from both units are consistently sharp indoors or outside and the constant f/4 aperture makes it easy to satisfy clients and family...

Outstanding performance in well-lit situations. However not good for taking photos of the moon, sunsets with bright clouds, or night shots with bright lights. In these cases it produces a very obvious ghost image for each light source.

6 August 2013

10/10

I bought this lens rather than the f2.8 version because of it's size and weight. If compared to the f2.8 version, this lens is approximately half the weight, and noticably smaller. This lens is a joy to hold and use because it's really light, and yet it produces outstanding pictures.

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Very lightweight, built like a tank. Zoom ring and the focus ring are all smooth.

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Sound of the motor is audible.

24 November 2013

10/10

I believe I got mine in 2006 or 2007 and it has never disappointed. The f4 works for most outdoor use and it is a lens you can carry easily compared to the 2.8 with foot. The amazing quality really showed when I used it with my now retired film body, but also shows when my 17-85 is at telephoto and...

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Amazing image quality and image stabilization.

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No weaknesses. Nicking it on price would not be fair because the big white Canon lenses are top tier and it seems like they spare nothing to make them.

6 September 2011

10/10

Only Cons about this lens is F4. but people who doesn't need F2.8, this is best lens. much lighter than 2.8 lenses. and sharper and contrast is stronger. and IS works great.

The lens focuses very fast with almost no noise. The IS function is a nice touch, but I am not sure how practical it really is. Having upgraded from an entry level lens, this lens is much heavier. Images are sharp with great color.

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